Not The Subplot
by AJ Roses
Summary: Suki returns to the college- and the boy- that she left behind. But she is different- uprooted, out of touch, tired and fractured- but healing. (A Sukka modern AU)


**Avatar: the Last Airbender and all associated characters belong to Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino.**

* * *

You've got to understand, I never had a _place_. I spent my childhood in small towns, my inchoate adulthood scrambling between colleges.

I was never the prettiest, the most interesting, not even the quietest or the least liked. I was always just _there_. Almost as if I was treated as a minor character to someone else's plot. Not that being the major character was what I wanted, but I wanted my story to be told. My whole life, my story seemed to be viewed as a subplot to something else.

Not any more.

* * *

It was 11 am, or just about, and the air was crisp. The kind of atmosphere when you could almost imagine hearing the air around you snap like the fall leaves on the ground if you were to move too suddenly. Or, maybe it was just the manifestation of the surmounting anxiety that Suki felt. Not that anything scared her, but this paper was different. Her first grade of her senior year, at a new college, no doubt. Well- not new to her, per se. But it felt new.

Her first year at Ba Sing Se University, there hadn't been that weird modernist building, with one wall of glass slanting so that it looked like the whole building was falling over into the earth from where Suki was standing. And- now that she thought of it- was that statue new too?

_It doesn't matter_, she told herself, she needed to get back on track. Her first short Women's Studies report was due at the faculty office that day and she was determined to get it in early. _But Jesus, it's cold out_, her conscious snapped back to the physical world as another gust of bitter wind tugged at her hair. She had suited up for the weather- black leather trench coat, green scarf, tall brown boots- but she had honestly forgotten how freezing Ba Sing Se could be. It was in a mountain range, to be fair. She couldn't wait to hand her paper in and go back to her dorm room, maybe watch Buffy until her next class.

As she was wondering idly whether she should go with the Angel or Spike era, she felt someone collide with her right shoulder, sending her Women's Studies folder flying in the air and her ass crashing into the pavement.

"Ow. Hey! What was that for?" She exclaimed before she had time to register. Suki stood up quickly, wincing slightly at the pain, but after a second she decided she was ok.

"Oh my God I'm so sorry are you ok?" The guilty party said in one breath as Suki dusted off her jeans.

"Fine, I'm-" she started to say _something_ but her mind cut off mid-thought.

"Suki?" He was standing in front of her, arm outstretched in the forgotten action of helping her up. His expression was shocked and he looked slightly ridiculous, in a way that Suki found endearing and amusing. But she couldn't help herself from noticing his electric eyes and pulled-back hair, his cheekbones and the shape of his shoulders beneath his shirt. He was the same, yet older and more refined and more handsome.

Suki pushed the split-second train of thought away and broke into a grin.

"Sokka! It's so good to see you!"

They hugged briefly, both aware of the gracelessness of the situation, Sokka pulling back first.

"Good to see you too, how have you been?" there was mirth in his voice but he seemed to examine her while she stepped back slightly.

"I've been good," she managed through a small smile. _It's not an outright lie,_ she told herself. "And yourself?"

"I've been- great, actually. The usual crazy hijinks and ensuing mishaps. But what else is new?"

Suki laughed, a sound that was more like a giggle, as memories that he was no doubt referencing came back to her.

Abruptly, he noticed the papers on the ground and gestured slightly towards them, then her and back again, unsure of what to do, before the both of them squatted down. Sokka casually eyed the last loose sheet as he picked it up.

"So you're still doing that women's study thing, huh?" he said with careful emphasis while handing Suki the pages. She raised her eyebrows and quirked her smile in a look that was equal parts mocking and don't-mess-with-me, "And what's _that _supposed to mean?"

"Still doing all your papers on that Buffy show?"

"It's not a show, it's a lifestyle," she was quick to correct him, matter-of-factly, which made him laugh as they both stood up.

"And besides, that was one paper," she admonished, "I happen to write about all kinds of topics."

"Oh yeah, like what?" he crossed his arms and leaned back, smirking.

"Like jerks who think ballerinas aren't tough." She turned and started walking as she spoke, her tone acid enough to make Sokka wince, yet sweet enough that he turned to follow.

"You're good with holding grudges, you know that?" Sokka retorted casually.

"So I've been told," she matched his tone, but the corners of her mouth tugged upwards. "So what about you, Mister hot-shot engineer, what do you write _your_ papers on?"

"Oh, y'know, this and that,"

"This and that?"

"Would you believe I haven't picked an area yet?"

"I'd believe that in an instant."

"Well someone's snarky today,"

"You used to love that about me," Suki fluttered her eyes in mock flirtation and instantly knew she has crossed an unapparent line. He laughed still, if unsteadily.

"Hey, what are you even doing back at Ba Sing Se? Didn't you start some fancy fighting group or something?"

"Yeah, I did,"

"Then what brings you back here?" There was no accusation in his question, just honest curiosity and a quiet wounded tone. She couldn't blame him, she had been so adamant about leaving and now she was back without warning.

"Kysely didn't… have the right classes for me." They both knew that her response came too slowly to be the truth, but Sokka didn't push her on it- much to Suki's relief. She wasn't yet used to answering the question and had no idea how close to the truth the answer should be for him.

They arrived at the glass double-doors of the faculty office building a beat later.

"Not that I don't appreciate you walking all this way with me, but weren't you heading in a different direction?" she stopped to ask him, with that small, insistent smile.

"Oh crap, I have a class!" Sokka burst out, slapping his forehead, "I'm so sorry, I've gotta go."

Sokka turned to leave and Suki barely had time to laugh before he swivelled on his heel to face her.

"Hey, I know this is probably weird but if you want to hang out later- I mean, if you're not busy, which I get—"

"I'd love to," Suki cut him off and smiled warmly before he could start to ramble.

"Great. So, um, meet at the Jasmine Dragon around 4?" he stopped rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and looked her in the eyes.

"Sounds good," her voice was a shade less convinced. They said their goodbyes and Sokka was off again, leaving Suki with the image of his smile; endearing and goofy. It had once filled her with joy but now all she could feel was the sinking feeling that she was going to fail him.

She tilted her head back against the brick wall and sighed.

_I'm not ready._

Before she pulled her courage a little closer and went back to facing the day.

* * *

**This is really just a preview of the story. If you have questions, feel free to ask!**


End file.
